The Other End of the Leash
by Stellina Gatsby
Summary: Dumbledore decides that Sirius needs some time out of the house and convinces the other members of the Order of the Phoenix to take turns taking Padfoot out for a walk. Some of them are better dog walkers than others.
1. Prologue

**Standard Disclaimer: Right. I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Acknowledgements: My sister and I came up with this story together. Major props to my little sister.**

**Also, a big thank you to Karity and Yas for being my beta readers.**

A knock at the door interrupted Dumbledore's pacing. "Enter."

"Sir," Harry said, stepping into the Headmaster's office, "can I talk to you?"

"Harry, my dear boy, of course. Did you enjoy your Christmas holidays? How is Sirius?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about, sir. Sirius isn't doing well locked up at Grimmauld Place, by himself all the time. He feels like he's still in prison. And he's lonely."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well..." Harry thought, "he came with me to King's Cross as a dog and he was okay. Couldn't he be allowed out when he's a dog? Just sometimes?"

"You're really concerned for him?"

Harry nodded.

"I'll see if we can't arrange something."

"Thank you, professor."

The following evening, an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix convened at the Burrow, with the only obvious exclusion being Sirius Black.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here," Dumbledore began. "Harry came to my office yesterday evening very concerned for Sirius' health and state of mind. Being alone in the house, unable to leave, is wearing on him, and I think I've come up with a feasible solution."

"Is this really the 'emergency', sir?" Severus asked. "Black's mental state?"

Dumbledore ignored him and continued, "Harry thinks, and I agree with him, that it would be all right for Sirius to leave the house, accompanied of course, if he remained in his Animagus form."

"Sir," Molly said, "do you think this is quite necessary? Wouldn't that put him at risk?"

"I believe he's a bigger risk if we don't. Left alone, with nothing to do, he's becoming depressed, anxious, possibly unstable... I wouldn't want him going into battle like that. So, I'm going to put together a schedule. Every Tuesday and Saturday, one of you will go to Grimmauld Place and take Sirius out for a nice, long walk."

Severus gave a stern look to Dumbledore. "Sir."

"Don't worry, Severus, you won't be on the schedule..."

"Yes!" Severus looked triumphant for a moment.

"...because I need you to teach Harry Occlumency."

Severus' face fell. "What!"

"So, who can go on Tuesdays and who can only go on weekends?"

Sirius paced his front corridor. Hedwig had arrived a few days earlier with a long letter from Harry. The letter had contained a long tirade against Umbridge, an unpleasant account of Harry's first Occlumency lesson, and an explanation of Dumbledore's plan to keep Sirius sane.

The doorbell rang and several members of the Order filed in, led by Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Sirius. Are you ready for a nice walk?"

"I guess," he said, and then shifted into a large black dog. He shook his head and wagged his tail.

Dumbledore presented a turquoise and lavender plaid collar and matching lead. Sirius cocked his head to the side and gave Dumbledore a quizzical look.

"Do you like the collar Molly and I picked out for your excursions?"

Sirius didn't react.

"All right then." Dumbledore put the collar on Sirius and attached the lead. "Let's go for a walk."

Dumbledore headed outside, Sirius walking placidly beside him, the skeptical Order members following behind. If a man dressed in periwinkle robes walking a black dog the size of a small horse followed by half a dozen similarly dressed people was drawing weird looks, none of them seemed to notice.

"See!" Dumbledore said. "He's walks splendidly on a lead. There's nothing to worry about."


	2. Remus

**Remus**

"Sirius!" Remus called into the house. He was first up on the schedule, and was scheduled for every third Tuesday from now on. He had felt bad that someone had to tell him Sirius was lonely. Why did he have to be scheduled to visit his best friend?

Remus hadn't come to Dumbledore's demonstration of how well Sirius behaved as a dog; he already knew firsthand.

There was a great deal of scuffling upstairs, a few curse words from the house elf, and then Padfoot came bounding down the stairs as fast as four feet could carry him.

Remus stopped feeling guilty. He would make it up to Sirius. This was going to be fun.

"Are you ready to go, buddy?"

Padfoot barked once, excitedly, and bounced in circles, scratching at the door.

Remus attached the lead and opened the door. "Okay! Let's go."

The walk started out pleasant enough. The air was still cold, but not bitingly so.

At the end of the block, as they waited to cross the street, a group of children on their way to school asked Remus if they could pet his dog. Padfoot seemed to really love that. He nudged their hands when they stopped petting, and whined when they ran off, saying they'd be late for school.

They walked to Regent's Park. Remus bought some fish & chips from a shop near the park and sat on a park bench, feeding the chips to Padfoot and drawing disapproving glances from passersby.

They sat in the park for a long time, enjoying the fresh air and watching the people pass. Remus absentmindedly scratched Padfoot's ears. When Padfoot nudged Remus' knee, he said, "Okay. Let's head home."

As they left the park and headed back to Grimmauld Place, Remus thought that maybe he'd come back tomorrow to see Sirius. They didn't have to go for a walk; they could just have some firewhiskey and play exploding snap or something. As Remus mused and enjoyed this thought, something caught Padfoot's attention.

Remus noticed the mischievous gleam in his friend's eye a moment too late. Padfoot shot off after a squirrel, still attached to the lead, Remus hanging on for dear life behind him.

"Sirius!"

The icy walkways had been gritted, but were still slippery. Remus skidded along for a few feet before slipping backward onto the ground, the lead still held tightly.

"Sirius!"

The snow and grit filled up the collar of Remus' coat and started to trickle down his back. He let go of the lead and slid to a halt, lying on his back on the sidewalk.

A few moments later, still lying in the snow, his eyes closed, trying to think of what he'd tell Dumbledore, Remus felt a warm, wet nose nudge his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Padfoot, tongue lolling out, looking ecstatic, standing over him.

"Sirius, I am going to kill you."


	3. Tonks

**Tonks**

"Sirius! Are you ready to go?"

"Coming!"

Remus had told her all about his walk with Sirius and she had come prepared.

She sat down of the bottom stair and donned a pair of pink and purple roller skates. She looked in the hallway mirror and adjusted her hair to match her skates.

Padfoot barked once to get her attention. She turned to see him sitting at the top of the stairs.

"Hey! Ready for your walk?"

He barked again, and then trotted down the stairs.

She hooked him to the lead, rolled out the door, and stumbled down the front steps.

"Okay, Sirius... Mush!"

Padfoot bolted. He charged down the block to the corner, Tonks hurtling along behind him. He paused for a moment at the corner, looked both ways, and then took off again.

Tonks slowed down when Padfoot stopped, and then the lead jerked her back into motion.

"Go, Sirius, go!"

They raced toward Regent's Park, faster than one would guess a dog could run. Tonks swung around corners, out into the street, where she was nearly hit by more than one car. She nearly took out more than one pedestrian, and did in fact knock down a postman, sending up a cloud of envelopes.

"Sorry!" Tonks shouted behind her.

Once in the park, Padfoot ran around the Inner Circle and past the college. When they started towards the boating lake, still traveling at breakneck speed, Tonks started to wonder if Sirius was getting tired. He couldn't possibly be in this good of shape after over six months trapped in the house.

She was jolted out of this thought when Padfoot suddenly veered left onto the frozen lawn.

"Sirius?" She scrabbled along on her roller skates in the crunchy grass. She focused on her feet to keep herself upright.

Tonks looked up again to see the boating lake coming up fast.

"Sirius!"

Padfoot stopped short, a few feet from the lake, and flopped onto the ground, panting. However, he had miscalculated how long it would take a rolling Tonks to come to a full stop.

When she flew past him, he realized he was still attached to the lead. He yelped as the lead dragged him back into motion.

Tonks tripped over the edge of the ground into the lake, yanking Padfoot behind her. They both landed with a splash.

Padfoot gave a dirty look to his cousin.

"Don't give me that look. You're the one who ran us into the lake."


	4. MadEye

**Mad-Eye**

Sirius had already shifted by time Mad-Eye got there. He was apprehensive at best about this arrangement and was sure Mad-Eye wasn't fully committed to the idea either. So Padfoot laid waiting at the top of the stairs, his chin resting on his paws.

The door opened and slammed closed again. "Sirius!" Mad-Eye yelled into the house. "It's time for your walk, ya' filthy animal."

Padfoot rolled his eyes and padded down the stairs, his plaid collar and lead in his mouth.

"Oh no. I heard about your outings with Remus and Tonks. We're using my collar and lead." Mad-Eye pulled a leather lead and metal choke collar from his coat pocket.

Padfoot shirked away but let Mad-Eye put the collar on him.

"Now let's get this over with."

He couldn't help but agree.

They started down the street and came to the corner where he and Remus had met the group of schoolchildren. They were there again today.

Padfoot barked once so they children would see him. They all grinned and Padfoot wagged his tail.

He tried to stop so that the kids could pet him and rub his ears. Mad-Eye had other ideas. Padfoot nudged one of the children and then gagged as the collar cinched closed around his throat.

"Keep it moving!"

Padfoot whined as Mad-Eye led him away from the children. He tried to give Mad-Eye a dirty look, but Mad-Eye said, "You're lucky you're coming out of that house at all. We're out in the open where anyone could see you. One of those children could belong to someone who'd do you in. Did you ever think of that?"

He had not, in fact, thought of that. Mostly because it was absurd.

As the walk went on, Sirius considered more and more asking Dumbledore to take Mad-Eye off of the schedule. Remus could come that Tuesday, or he could miss one Tuesday out every three weeks.

They passed the pond in Regent's Park, where Padfoot tried to slow down to watch some ducks; Mad-Eye choked him with the collar.

He tried to turn down a different path so they could walk past the college; Mad-Eye choked him with the collar and made him keep going straight.

When they left the park, he tried to speed up so they could get home sooner and he could make a healing potion to fix what he was sure was serious damage to his throat; Mad-Eye choked him with the collar.

Padfoot couldn't help but think Mad-Eye was enjoying the choking a little too much.

"Mad-Eye!" a familiar voice called to them, about a block from the house.

Remus approached them from a side street.

"Morning, Mad-Eye. Sirius." Then he noticed the choke collar. "Uh, where's the plaid collar Dumbledore bought?"

Padfoot seized this opportunity to get back at Mad-Eye.

"Oh, I wasn't going to have him dragging me all over London."

Padfoot walked between Mad-Eye's left leg and his cane.

"Honestly, Moody?"

Padfoot walked in front of Mad-Eye to his stand on his other side.

"I'm too old for that nonsense."

Padfoot walked back behind Mad-Eye and between his leg and cane again.

"I just can't help but think this is going to backfire horribly."

"Sirius! Stand still!"

Mad-Eye yanked hard on the lead, not noticing they tangled mess Padfoot had created, and pulled his own feet out from under himself.

For a moment, there was silence. It took a second before Mad-Eye realized exactly what had happened; he had a momentary lapse in his constant vigilance and was now lying on the pavement.

Then he started swinging his cane. "You filthy son of a...!"

"I think I'll take it from here, Mad-Eye," Remus said, disentangling him from the lead. "Why don't I take your Tuesdays from now on?"

Padfoot beamed. This couldn't have worked out better if he had planned it.


	5. Hagrid

**Hagrid**

"Sirius!" Hagrid was early. Sirius was still eating his breakfast.

"I'm in the kitchen!"

Hagrid filled the door to the kitchen.

"Morning, Sirius. I've brought a surprise for you."

"What kind of surprise?"

"Another walking companion."

Hagrid turned and went back to the front hall.

Sirius hadn't been done with his bacon and eggs, but he was now very worried and didn't know if he could stomach them. Hagrid meant well, but sometimes forgot that other people didn't think monsters made good pets.

Sirius considered whether he would rather meet his walking companion as a human or a dog. He settled on dog and wandered up to the front hall.

"Hullo, Sirius. Meet your new friend."

Standing next to Hagrid was his boarhound, Fang.

Padfoot sat down about a foot in front of Fang.

Well, it wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected. He looked at Fang, who looked extraordinarily confused, like he suspected Padfoot wasn't actually a dog but couldn't tell for sure.

Padfoot then eyed Hagrid, trying to convey a message of, "Are you just fooling around with me or what?"

When he looked back to Fang, the other dog had stood up to come examine Padfoot more closely. They were suddenly nose to nose. Padfoot tried to back away, but Fang was insistent on sniffing him.

"Good!" Hagrid said. "You're becoming fast friends!"

He hooked them both to leads and they headed out the door.

Padfoot trotted along at a brisk pace to keep up with Hagrid's long strides. He would sometimes forget that Fang was even there, walking on Hagrid's other side. Then he would catch a glimpse of Fang, still staring at him intently from behind his master's legs. When they stopped at a corner, Padfoot would try to move forward or back so that Fang couldn't see him. No matter where Padfoot was, Fang's unerring gaze would follow; there was no escaping it.

Hagrid didn't seem to notice the unbelievably intense one-way staring contest taking place at knee-level. He chatted away, talking about Hogwarts and the quidditch scores and how the weather was affecting his flobberworms.

Padfoot was half listening. He was interested in what Hagrid was saying. (At least, he was interested in what was going on at the school and how the Wigtown Wanderers were doing. He couldn't care less about flobberworms.) But it was hard to focus on what he was hearing when he could feel a pair of eyes boring through him.

Padfoot knew perfectly well that nothing bad would happen if Fang did decide that Padfoot was in fact Sirius in disguise. What could he do? He was a dog. He wasn't going to stand up in the middle of the park and yell, "Hey everybody! This bloke isn't really a dog!" Regardless, it made Padfoot uncomfortable.

They were standing by the water. Hagrid was feeding the ducks when Fang decided to investigate Padfoot again. He turned his head and was startled to see the boarhound less than an inch from his face. Padfoot took a few steps back, but Fang took a few steps forward to match.

Padfoot tried to step back again. This time, Fang approached and laid a big, licky, slobbery kiss between Padfoot's eyes. He shook his head to try to get the drool off, but only succeeded in getting it into his eyes.

Fang licked Padfoot's ear and the side of his neck.

"Aw!" Hagrid said. "He likes you."

Padfoot tried to give Hagrid a meaningful look. Hagrid, however, was not a master in subtlety. He stood there and smiled as Fang rested his chin on the back of Padfoot's neck and drooled on him.

Padfoot rolled his eyes. He started to walk back the way they had come.

"Are you ready to go?" Hagrid asked.

Padfoot nodded vigorously.

"It's getting a bit cold."

When they got back to Grimmauld Place, Sirius tried to say goodbye to Hagrid as quickly and politely as he possibly could, and then immediately went to take a shower. He washed his hair twice and still felt like he had drool dripping into his eyes.

Sirius was lying on the couch, reading some of his old Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle comics, when Remus showed up with some take-out from the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hey, buddy. I brought you lunch."

"Great! I'm starving," Sirius said, popping open the take-out box Remus had handed him and digging into his shepherd's pie. "I didn't finish my breakfast."

"How was your walk today?"

"Awkward."


	6. Mundungus Fletcher

**Mundungus Fletcher**

After seeing who was next up on the schedule, Sirius couldn't help but think that today's walk might be worse than Saturday's. Whatever Dung was planning on, Sirius was sure he wouldn't enjoy it.

At worst, he'd end up traded to a Muggle circus in exchange for a two-headed cow and a bag of peanuts. At best, Dung wouldn't show up.

That would be fine. Hagrid had returned his motorbike on Sunday and Sirius had started tuning it up. He knew he couldn't ride it, but maybe Harry would like to take it out for a bit. Working on the bike gave him something to do, at least.

The more he thought about it, the more Sirius hoped Mundungus would bail on him. He was probably busy with some act of questionable legality anyway.

Sirius was about to head upstairs to work on his bike when, much to his chagrin, Mundungus arrived.

"Morning, Sirius."

Sirius sighed. "Morning, Dung."

"I have some errands to run. You mind coming along?"

"I guess not."

Sirius shifted and consented to be led downtown. He mostly ignored Dung as they walked. They weather was warm and Padfoot was enjoying the muddy smell of spring just around the corner. He didn't realize they weren't heading to Regent's Park until they walked past St. Mungo's.

Padfoot looked up at Dung quizzically, hoping this would prompt an explanation, but he was ignoring Padfoot as effectively as he had been ignoring Dung.

Padfoot kept following, growing curiouser and curiouser, until he saw the Leaky Cauldron coming into view. Then he started to panic.

It was one thing to be wandering around Regent's Park. The park was full of Muggles. None of them would have known who he was even if he was in human form; they wouldn't know it was possible for a person to be an Animagus; it was safe.

It was another thing entirely to be wandering around Diagon Alley, where there would be people who knew him. There would be people who knew him personally, knew he could become a dog, and knew what that dog looked like.

Padfoot pulled back on the collar. He tried to resist being dragged through the Leaky Cauldron, where Tom the barman gave him the same look Fang had given him all of Saturday. He tried to drag Dung back out of the bar and onto the Muggle street, but Dung was stronger than he looked.

"Come on, you mutt!"

Padfoot cringed. At least he hadn't called him Sirius. He'd be done in for sure if Dung let slip his name.

Once they were on Diagon Alley, Padfoot slunk down and tried to look as inconspicuous as a 150 pound dog possibly could. He hid behind Dung's legs and looked at the ground, hoping that no one was looking at them.

"What is wrong with you?" Dung asked.

Padfoot tried to communicate with him telepathically that taking him down Diagon Alley was the stupidest idea ever anyone had ever heard of. He tried to say via eye contact alone that he would like very much to go back to Grimmauld Place and that being trapped in his childhood home was unequivocally preferential to being locked in Azkaban.

Mundungus, however, continued to drag Padfoot down Diagon Alley, as if the question was meant to be rhetorical. He dragged him onto Knockturn Alley, at which point Padfoot felt like he was going to start hyperventilating. (He had never hyperventilated before in his life.)

Padfoot glanced around, eyes darting between people, making sure he didn't recognize anyone who would recognize him. If this was what Mad-Eye felt like all the time, no wonder he was always angry.

Suddenly, Padfoot realized that Mundungus wasn't with him anymore. Had he just left him? Was he about to be ambushed? Mundungus would sell him out in a heartbeat if the price was right.

Then he noticed he was tied to a lamppost outside of an unsavory-looking shop with a window full of shrunken heads. Mundungus was inside talking to some equally unsavory-looking shopkeepers.

Padfoot sat down next to the lamppost. After what felt like several hours, panicking started to get boring. He laid down on the pavement and put his head on his front paws. He started reciting as many verses of The Founders' Favorite Tales as he could remember.

When he ran out of epic poem, he began to wonder what Mundungus was still doing in there. Padfoot was getting hungry. It had to be close to noon.

He then began to devise ways to untie himself. He backed around the lamppost until he ran out of lead and then tried to pull his head out of the collar, but either his head was too big or the collar was too small or it had an Anti-Escaping Charm on it.

He tried to untie the lead with his paws, but that worked about as well as trying to nail pumpkin juice to a tree.

He tried to chew through the lead, but it tasted really bad.

Padfoot laid back down. He counted stones in the road, made a mental list of things he needed to do at the house, thought about how he would word the indignant letter he was going to write to Dumbledore when he got home. His eyes began to flutter closed and then he snapped them open again.

Padfoot had never fallen asleep as a dog. He didn't know if he would stay that way while unconscious or if he would spontaneously go back to being human. It was theoretically possible for them to finish this excursion without anyone recognizing him as a dog, but if suddenly there was a sleeping Sirius Black tied to a lamppost on Knockturn Alley, someone was bound to notice.

Before Padfoot could fully start to panic again, Mundungus came out of the shop. Padfoot growled at him low in the back of his throat.

"You ready to go home, are you?" Mundungus asked.

Padfoot glared at him. Dung untied him and led him back through Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron, where Padfoot tried to shrink out of sight.

Once back on the Muggle streets, Padfoot walked as fast as he could to try to get them back to Grimmauld Place. He had never suspected that he would actually want to shut himself in that house.

"Oy! Slow down, mate!"

Padfoot refused, making Dung jog behind him.

Once back at the house, inside the front hall, Mundungus reached down to take the collar off. Padfoot nipped at his hand.

"Hey!"

Padfoot bared his teeth again.

"You wouldn't dare."

Mundungus reached for the collar again and received a bite just hard enough to draw blood.

"You mangy beast! You bit me!"

Sirius shifted back to himself. "You left me tied to a post!" he yelled, ripping the collar off.

"I had business to take care of."

"I could have been caught!"

"But you weren't, were you?"

Sirius had an idea. He ran up the stairs.

"Oy! You won't tell Mad-Eye, will you?"

"Dung, I will be telling Mad-Eye, and Dumbledore, and probably everyone else. But before that..."

Sirius knew that this was going to make a huge mess. Molly would probably give him an earful when she saw the house. He opened the door to Buckbeak's room.

"Come on, boy," he whispered. Buckbeak followed Sirius to the top of the stairs.

"Sirius! Don't tell Mad-Eye!"

"Mad-Eye is the least of your worries!"

Mundungus noticed the hippogriff standing at the top of the stairs. His eyes got wide.

"You're not going to set that monster on me, are you?"

Buckbeak screeched.

"I don't think he liked that monster comment, Dung."

Buckbeak dove down the stairs at Mundungus, who stumbled back into the door. Buckbeak reared up and Mundungus disapparated.

Sirius hurried down the stairs to calm his temperamental pet.

"Whoa! Whoa! Good boy. You chased that prat away, didn't you? Good job. Good boy."

He pet Buckbeak's head. Buckbeak calmed down and nuzzled Sirius in the chest.

Sirius sighed. "I wish you could come outside, too."


	7. Professor McGonagall

**Professor McGonagall**

Sirius had come up with exactly what he wanted to do today. A few days earlier, the idea had just popped into his head. It was funny when it first came to him, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed awesome. He knew that Professor McGonagall would never go for it, but he could dream.

When she arrived, Sirius was still in human form, sitting about halfway up the stairs.

"Good morning, Sirius. Why aren't you ready to go?"

"I have a favor to ask of you."

"I heard about what happened with Mundungus. If you don't want to go out today, I understand."

"That's not it."

"Well, what then?"

Sirius went down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Well," he said, "I was thinking... seeing as we're _both _Animagi..."

"Oh no! No. Do you have any idea how undignified that would be?"

"It wouldn't!" Sirius pleaded. "It would be fun. I wouldn't do anything inappropriate. I promise."

"I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced by that assertion, Mr. Black."

_Mr.__Black? _Sirius was reminded of his many trips to Professor McGonagall's office while he was in school.

"Please? You were always my favorite professor."

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

Sirius pouted. (That used to work on his aunts.)

Minerva sighed. "Fine."

"Really!"

"Just a quick run. To Saint Mungo's and back. And you have to wear the collar and lead, in case some Muggle dog catcher comes along."

Sirius shifted and started barking and bouncing to show how excited he was.

"Don't make me regret this."

Minerva put the collar and lead on him and led him out to the front walk.

"Give me a head start. I'm not as young as I once was."

Minerva shifted into a tabby cat and started for the corner.

Padfoot chased his a tail a bit, scratched at his ear, and yawned, waiting for Minerva to get sufficiently ahead of him. When she was out of sight, he went to the end of his front walk and looked down the street. Minerva was crossing at the corner.

He decided that was enough of a lead. He barked so she would turn and look at him. She did and then took off at a run.

Padfoot loped after her, barking happily. He slowed down but didn't stop before crossing the road.

Minerva went down an alley between a couple of row-houses and jumped lithely over the fence. Padfoot tried to get over the fence and then through it, but couldn't manage to. He went back around the row-houses to the other side of the alley.

Minerva was sitting at the corner two blocks away. If Padfoot didn't know any better, he would have thought she was smirking at him. She turned and started running again and he followed.

They raced to St. Mungo's. They went around the back of the hospital and headed back toward home.

They were about halfway home when Padfoot rounded a corner and couldn't see where Minerva had gone. He came to a halt and scoured the scenery. Then he spotted her, walking along the top of someone's garden wall, apparently thinking she'd gotten enough of a lead on Sirius to slow down.

Padfoot hunkered down, prepping to break into a sprint. He pushed off toward her, trying to be as fast and as silent as he could. His back foot caught in something and he stumbled. He had forgotten that the lead was tied to his neck.

Padfoot yelped and tripped. His back foot had pulled the lead (and the collar with it) towards his tail. He flipped over his front feet and rolled, taking out someone's dustbins.

Minerva had turned to see what was happening when he yelped. She started to trot back towards him, to make sure he was okay, but before he had even stopped rolling, he was scrambling back to his feet.

Minerva paused. Padfoot was still running towards her. She decided this meant he was fine. She turned and ran again, heading back to Grimmauld Place.

Since the lead and crashing dustbins had ruined his chances at being stealthy, Padfoot started barking again. He was almost surprised at how much he was enjoying just making noise where someone could hear it. He could crash around the house all he wanted, taking his frustrations out on his furniture; no one would hear, but that made it seem pointless.

Running down the street, making noise for no reason, felt kind of exhilarating, like screaming and cheering at a concert or a quidditch match.

Minerva was sitting on his porch when Padfoot came bounding up the front walk. She shifted back to being human and opened the door for him. He skidded through the turn onto the walkway and kept running up the steps and into the house.

Padfoot shifted as he ran into the living room and collapsed onto his couch.

"I take it you enjoyed yourself?" Minerva asked.

"Yes!" Sirius replied, almost breathlessly.

"Are you hurt?"

"Hmm?"

"From crashing into those dustbins?"

"Oh." Sirius felt his ribs to see if any of them felt broken. "No. I think I'm fine."

"I suppose I'll be going then. Don't expect this every time I come to take you on an outing."

"Oh, Professor!" Sirius hopped back up onto his feet.

"Yes, Mr. Black?"

"Thank you."


End file.
